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Spread Eagle Sailing Club
Winter Newsletter 2014
Welcome to the 2014 Winter Newsletter at the end of another good season. What an amazing
summer we had before this wet weather!
Personally, I had a wonderful summer on Eagle. Along with sailing with friends I also took the children on the club
family weekend with Ian Hyde and they had the best time sailing the boat while the adults looked on. I then passed my
C ticket under the watchful, expert eye of Richard Foulkes and look forward to futher boat handling tuition this season.
Please do send pictures and stories of your sailing exploits – they brighten up the newsletter and everyone enjoys
reading them! Thanks to all who contributed to this issue.
As ever when one Newsletter is put to bed the next is already under-way
but I do need copy from those of you who are active sailors.
Many thanks
Jane Mancini (Editor)
[email protected]
And it’s Goodbye from me
and Hello from him!
It’s now approaching the three year
mark that I have
had the honour
of being your club
commodore and
at the last club
committee meeting
I made known my intent to step down.
While I have thoroughly enjoyed the role
I am currently faced with a number
of external factors all competing for my
attention. It is for this reason that I am
stepping away.
My three year tenure has gone very
quickly and I think the highlight was the
procurement and commissioning of Eagle.
I look back and smile when I remember
the evening conference calls with the
replacement boat committee and the
‘debate’ had over choice of keel.
As we all know those advocating the
shallower keel won the day, and any fears
that there might have been over adverse
performance have not materialised.
On a sad note I reflect that the club has
seen the passing away of a number
of key club members and most notably
enthusiastic committee members. In no
particular order I think of David French,
Dawn Aloof, Geoff Nichols, Geoff Brown,
and most recently Bill Munnery. Each
managed to indelibly leave a positive mark
on the club and pave the way for the future.
So, as stated at the outset my tenure is now
coming to a close and I am very pleased
to say that Andy Morrill has agreed to take
on the Commodore role. He is effectively
taking over with immediate effect in a
‘commodore designate’ capacity pending
formal ratification at the next AGM in
May. A large number of you will know
Andy from the brilliantly organised and
run training weekends. Andy has the full
backing of his fellow committee members
and I know that the club could not be
in safer hands. I would ask you all to join
me in welcoming Andy into his new role.
Paul
(soon to be Immediate Past Commodore).
• Note from the Editor
• And it’s Goodbye from me and
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hello from him!
A Hello from the new man
Universal Marina Tides
Small Craft Channel
The depth Sounder that lies!
Geoff Brown
The Benefits Cruise
A Hello from the new man
As I take the helm, my thanks must go to the commodore's, flag officers and committee members who brought
us to where we are today – sadly, some of whom are no longer with us and will be greatly missed.
Over to me:A number of you [our club membership]
already know and have sailed with me
on club events either as crew, a mate
or skipper, but for those who don't know
me, here is a quick “potted history”
of who I am…
A product of the sixties, brought up in
Burleson, I spent most of youth on or
around the Hamble river, sailing and play
on boats whenever possible. My whole
family, father, brothers and I have all
owned boats at some time or another
and have sailed and explored the waters
around the Solent.
I joined Barclays Bank Sailing Club
(as it was at that time) back in the
mid 90's, sailed whenever I could and
was fortunate to have met a great circle
of sailing friends, married Claire who
has similar sailing passions, who can
victual for a hearty bunch of blokes,
helm, crew, cook a 3 course meal on
board, drink me under the table, then
drag me back to the boat, and is my
sailing conscience that keeps me righted
most of the time.
What type of sailing do I do?
I've tried the “racing” bit, it's all too stressful
and expensive should things go wrong not for me. I prefer the cruising mentality;
it's about the journey, the company, freedom to explore and doing it for fun. Long
or short passages, new or familiar stops it's
all good. It's about the sailing and life on
board, a bonus if you reach your intended
destination or simply a change in plan if
you can't.
Any preferred sailing areas?
I never get bored with sailing in the
Solent, there are times when it can be
as challenging as anywhere I've sailed
before, I still enjoy the fun of creek crawling
or revisiting old watering holes, and when
the weather builds, you can be assured of
some great sailing up Southampton Water,
and still only a short sail from a cosy berth.
Or in warmer, deeper waters of the
Mediterranean or hot sultry nights of the
tropics, Andaman or South China Seas –
they're all a very different sailing experience and areas I'd highly recommended
for anyone looking for a different challenge.
to this too! But by far, the moment to raise
the hairs on the back on my neck every time,
is just thinking about the possible outcomes
- whilst we were sailing a catamaran in Koh
Samui last July and were snagged by a
trailing line from behind a Thai fishing
trawler and, potentially being towed
backwards or worse, that moment had all
the elements of something that could have
ended so badly. Recovered by quick
reactions, not panicking and a silent
prayer and ending with only ones pride
being hurt. A valuable life lesson and
sailing experience, I never want to repeat.
How do I sum up sailing?
Being skipper has its own rewards and
challenges, being “Mate” is the most fun,
but ultimately it's just about being out on the
water and never stop learning, exploring,
feeling alive.
Or alternatively, to plagiarise the words
of the wise: It's about 95% of boredom
interrupted by moments of sheer terror.
And albeit a cliché: a bad days sailing
is still better than a good day in the office.
The sailing club gave me many
opportunities to sail on larger yachts,
where I progressed from a novice crew
member through to club skipper and
RYA Yachtmaster.
I've sat on the committee for a number
of years, helped maintain Eagle and
a few of her fore runners and supported
and organised a number of club family
and sailing events. I've always been
impressed and passionate about the ethos
of the club and have been committed
to give back some of the opportunities
afforded me through my sailing career.
Why do I go sailing?
For me, it's such a brilliant [team] pleasure
activity and sport, I feel privileged to be
able to get out on the water with friends
and mates enjoying the moment and the
company, pitching up in a different port
or anchorage, never the same day twice
and every day an adventure.
How about places on the “to sail list”?
I'm not a fair weather sailor but sunny
sailing in tee shirt and shorts or anywhere
that doesn't require “oilies” sounds good to
me. Caribbean, BVI's, The Bahamas. Perhaps
one day, I'd love to do more Thailand
sailing, maybe sailing further south to
Malaysia or Singapore or try out the
emerging sailing grounds of South Vietnam.
Scariest moments?
I've many memories that bring on the night
terrors - remembering the sleepless nights,
fretting in my bunk over passage plans for
the day to come, following weather conditions or simply, the boat and its crew – I'm
sure there are many skippers who can relate
As I take up my
new post I'm keen
to make this a club,
run by its members,
for the benefit of all
its members, so
please feel free to
e-mail me with any
questions or
suggestions you may have.
Happy sailing and here's to a safe
and successful new season.
Andy Morrill – Commodore Elect
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: 07775 541653
‘Springs’ Tidal Curve
‘Neaps’ Tidal curve
Universal Marina Tides
Looking at the tidal curves, slack water not only
occurs at HW for 2 hours, but also at LW+ 2,
therefore at LW+2, a flood tide cannot be relied
upon to slow the boat down.
The tides at the upper reaches of the
Hamble, and around Universal marine, can at
times be ferocious and often can catch out the
unwary yachtsman. This can make leaving and
returning to our berth, on G6, at Universal
marina, particularly challenging at certain
states of the tide.
During the strong currents on the ebb tide
(the 3 hours before LW), mooring on our home
berth is dangerous and should not be
attempted. Skippers should bear this in mind
when preparing their passage plans and
arrange not to return within this 3 hour period.
The tides within the Hamble are unique and
a closer inspection of the tidal curves shows
several interesting features:• The strong asymmetry in tidal movement
in and out of the estuary is reflected in
differences in the flood and ebb duration
(lasting on average seven and five hours,
respectively) resulting in stronger currents
on the ebb tide than on the flood.
• During the flood tide there is a pause
or period of little change in water level,
followed by a second rise (a ‘double high
water’), with the whole lasting
for up to about 3 hours. This feature
is particularly evident on spring tides.
• Also, within the flood tide, there is a
period when the rate of tidal rise slows or
completely stops for a period of around 2
hours (a ‘Young Flood Stand’). This period
of slowing in tidal rise is followed by an
accelerated rise to the first high water, being
particularly noticeable on spring tides.
Putting this technical information to
practical use…
Leaving G6
Due to the starboard prop kick, the obvious way
to leave our berth is to reverse out to starboard
in to the main river. A flowing ebb tide assists
this manoeuvre. However during the flood tide,
there is a risk of being swept down on the tide,
onto the boats moored in the berths/hammer
head behind - (on I pontoon). A possible exit
would be to reverse out to port, using a slip line
to overcome the prop kick and then drive out
forwards. With a strong ebb, it might be
possible to drop back on the tide (using a slip
line to the pontoon centre cleat to stop the bow
from blowing off, onto our neighbour) and
then ‘ferry glide’ out into the main river.
Returning to G6
With a strong incoming tide, it is possible
to ‘ferry glide’ across and then drive forward
into our berth. With a medium incoming tide,
it is possible to simply ‘drive’ into our berth.
Even during slack water our berth is not a
straight forward as it may first appear. When
simply ‘driving’ on to our berth, approach at a
slow speed as any reverse throttle will move the
stern away from the pontoon (due to the starboard prop kick), -try to resist any big bursts of
astern – tick over in reverse can be used to slow
the boat down. When approaching at a slow
speed, the prevailing SW winds can blow the
bow off. A line from the yacht’s centre cleat to
the first cleat on the pontoon can be used as a
‘break’ if having to approach at more than a
tick-over due to strong SW winds (but make
sure you have a big fender on the bow).
All of the above is based on my observations
and experience. However, each skipper must
make their own decisions on how and when
to leave and return to our home berth
Richard Foulkes (a man with local knowledge)
Small Craft Channel – Cowes
The small craft channel connects the eastern approaches to Cowes with the main fairway opposite Town Quay,
enabling small vessels to avoid the main harbour entrance when approaching/departing Cowes from/to the
north and east. The depth in the small craft channel may be as little as chart datum (0.0m). As a rule of thumb,
if your draught is more than the current tide height you should avoid using the channel.
enter the small craft mooring areas either
side (prohibited areas).
More information is contained in: Cowes
Local Notice to Mariners No. 12 of 2013:
Small Craft Channel, at www.cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/pages/notices.
Tidal Movements
Tides around Cowes Harbour can run up
to 3 knots. Such tidal streams will have a
significant effect on the manoeuvrability of
commercial vessels. In keeping with the
Collision Regulations vessels under 20m,
sailing vessels and fishing vessels, must
give way to large vessels that can only
safely navigate within the fairway; this
includes all the ferries arriving or departing
Cowes.
Mean spring range 3.6m (12 feet)
Mean neaps range 1.8m (6 feet)
Map courtesy of PC Graphics (UK) & Solent.co
The current tide height can be found on the
COWES.co.uk homepage or on the tide
boards located at Town Quay and the
Shrape beacon. Vessels using the channel
should stay below 6 knots and pass to seaward of the Shrape beacon and between
the three pairs of red and green buoys.
The small craft channel is a minimum of
35m wide and is marked by three pairs of
lit red and green lateral marks at the eastern end and two pairs of lit yellow lateral
special marks at the western end. Vessels in
the small craft channel and main fairway
must ensure that Rule 9 of the Collision
Regulations is followed.
Vessels joining or leaving the small craft
channel at the western end should navigate
with extreme caution and are advised to
give way to all vessels navigating in the
main harbour fairway. Care should be
taken in particular not to impede
commercial vessels including passenger
ferries (Red Jets) turning off Cowes Town
Quay and large car ferries approaching
and departing from East Cowes Red Funnel
terminal.
Cross currents of up to 2 knots may be encountered in the small craft channel during
spring ebb tides. Care should be taken to
adhere to the buoyed channel and not to
South of No. 4 buoy the tide stands for 2
hours after High Water. Exercise particular
caution during periods of spring ebb tides
in the vicinity of the Chain Ferry where the
tide can reach speeds of up to 4 knots.
During spring tides, a west going ebb of
up to 3 knots runs between High Water 2.5hrs and High Water +3hrs at No. 1
and No. 2 buoys. The west going set is experienced as far south as No. 4 (red) buoy.
A tide gauge and five day weather
forecast is available on the homepage
at www.COWES.co.uk.
The Depth Sounder that Lies!
Before anyone accuses me of get on my high horse, again, let me caution you that the older I get, the larger the
herd of high horses grows. This one is just the current favourite.
Let us assume that you go elsewhere and charter a boat. The specs will tell you the draft of the boat before you
get there, and if you ask, they will almost certainly tell you that the depth sounder reads depth below the keel.
So, the boat draws 1.8m, you are
following the slight channel through the
bar, into the river, for a pleasant evening
in idyllic surroundings, when the helmsman
announces, with more than a touch of
concern, that the depth sounder reads
0.0m! You have done the sums, and there
should be water to spare.
You try a turn to port – still 0.0m.
Starboard – still 0.0m – can’t find deeper
water. What now? Perhaps you cross your
fingers, turn round and give up your plans,
and head for the fish dock for the night.
What has happened? Almost certainly
the charter operator has “added a bit”
to the keel offset, because his experience
tells him that charterers are, in the main,
too dumb to be able to work out depths.
He has added perhaps 0.5m “to keep
the numpties off the putty”. He will have
passed this instruction to the lad or lass
who is on a gap year, looking after yachts,
who will have added 0.5m to the draft
of 1.8m, and set an offset of -2.3m.
Does this means that the depth sounder will
read 0.0m when the depth is 2.3m? In my
experience, almost certainly not! Unless
he/she is very good, he/she will have
ignored the fact that the depth sounder
reads from the transponder, and seldom
is the transponder anywhere near the
waterline. At a guess, it will often be
something like 0.5m below waterline,
so his keel offset of -2.3m means that
the depth sounder will read 0.0m when
the actual depth of water is 2.8m.
In your chartered yacht drawing 1.8m,
this means that you might still have a
healthy 1.0m of water under your keel,
but the crucial point is that you will have
no idea how much from that point
onwards. If you have a satisfactory 0.9m
of clearance, it will still show 0.0m, and it
will show 0.0m all the way until your keel
hits the bottom. At that point you will have
an accurate indication of depth, but that
might prove to be of little comfort.
You know what your yacht draws – it was
in the specs. If you know what the actual
depth of water is, (and you can set up the
instrument with a + offset just as easily
as a – one), it is not a hard task to stay
deep enough. Set the depth alarm if you
want a “heads up”.
Don’t think this idyllic scenario is far away.
The Beaulieu River is a good example
(although The Master Builder is another
one of my high horses!).
So check what you are chartering, and ask
the right questions. Better still, dip the lead
line around the boat before you leave the
berth, and establish your own comparison.
You may still be stuck with this dead band
of no information, but at least you will
know it is there.
Jim Crick
(aka Dismal Jimmy)
Geoff Brown 1953 - 2013 late editor of this (his words) esteemed publication
It was not Geoff’s practice to include obituaries in this publication and in line with that tradition this is not
but simply an acknowledgment of a relatively short but oh so active sailing career.
he had to be back in time for the funeral
which he was but it takes a different sort
of man to take that sort of risk.
Those who sailed with Geoff will remember
him as a passionate and outstandingly
eloquent individual, some may say
loquacious, but he could talk for hours on
his favourite subjects which, in no particular
order, were politics, fox hunting (anti),
religion (very pro) and any other matters
usually relating to the down trodden
working man.
At the age of 50 Geoff came as a complete
novice on a 5 day cruise in August 2003
cruise which his sister Marilyn (Maz) had
put together. We had little wind but some
fog and we managed to get to Cherbourg
and St Vaast during the 5 days. He just
loved it and as with many other things took
to sailing with great enthusiasm and gusto.
This was evidenced by the fact that during
the winter of 2003/2004 he did an RYA
Yachtmaster shore based course which is
no mean feat with virtually no sailing
experience.
Geoff did a couple of weekends during
2004 but during that year Stan Davis
announced that he intended to get a crew
together for the 2005 Fastnet and our man
promptly signed up for it against advice
from various quarters. As most of you
know you do not just turn up for the start
of the Fastnet but have to complete a
number of gruelling RORC qualifying races
prior to the start of the main event. By the
end of the first series of qualifying races he
had proved himself to be an able navigator
and competed in, and finished, the 2005
and 2007 races. He never got over the fact
that for the third in 2009 they were forced
to retire at Plymouth in appalling weather
a damaged boat and injured crew. He
vowed he would never do another but if
pushed it is likely he would have taken part
again.
Whenever the chance to go sailing was
on offer Geoff would be up for it. One
November he volunteered to help move
a boat from Andraxt on Majorca the 110
miles to Marseilles. What should have
been an easy trip was far from it as on
two attempts to get away from Majorca
we blew the main out and finally had to
admit defeat; it would have to wait until
the spring of the following year. The same
crew turned up in Mid-April again
expecting a doddle of a trip but again not
to be as we blew the main out again but
this time finally made Barcelona where we
effected repairs and worked our way up
the coast taking night stops. A very
memorable one was close to the snow
covered Pyrenees where the wind
screamed off the mountains and out into
the Gulf of Lyon. We were very lucky that
night to have got into a small marina only
a couple of hours before the wind arrived.
We continued to port hop up the French
coast and while the weather had improved
it was bitterly cold but we finally got to a
very wet and cold Marseilles and the boat
could be trucked to the UK.
Another significant delivery Geoff went
on was to help take a boat from The Solent
to La Corunna in Spain which is no mean
feat. The trip was relatively uneventful but
what made it different was that his mother
had died just before the trip started and
As ambassadors of the club there were
none better as the evident enthusiasm for
all things meant that he persuaded many
of his friends and acquaintances to try
sailing even though most lived in Coventry
which is about as far as you can get from
the sea on this small island of ours.
He will be missed by many. His sailing
career spanned almost exactly 10 years
as he died on July 13 only a couple
of days after being aboard Eagle for
a weekend. For those who knew him RIP
is singularly appropriate. He was also
a staunch member of the Baptist church
and amongst many other enthusiasms
was studying for a Divinity qualification.
The picture was taken off the coast of the
Camargue on what was a bitterly cold still
morning in April. The smile says it all.
The Benefits Cruise
When we gathered on the first day of September for the club event on Eagle it was apparent that only one
crew member was in full-time gainful employment and our average age was 68. Fortunately someone had
the foresight to allow only people answering to names of John or David, to sail, which was a great help
to those with failing memory from the onset of senility!
On the Monday morning we were greeted
with sunshine, very mild weather but
precious little wind and set off on a
passage to Weymouth. Our skipper, Jeff
quickly introduced a ban on ‘old man
noises’, i.e. gasps and groans, as we
moved about the vessel!
drowns out the snoring, and akin to being
moored in a marina.
The next day it was warm enough to wear
shorts and tee-shirts at sea, but no wind
and we continued with our passage to
Weymouth under power and by early
two yachts. We passed St Albans Head
and were concerned about going into
Poole in the fog but as we reached the
channel the fog was lifting sufficiently for
us to go in safely.
The following morning was foggy as we
came out of Poole Harbour marina and
inched our way into clear water. The murk
then cleared with a breeze and enabled
us to raise the sails to have a fine passage
in force 4 back to the Solent. During our
journey we heard that at dawn that
morning there had been a 100 car pile up
at Sheppey, fortunately, without loss of life.
We were grateful that our trip had proved
to be trouble free!
We progressed under power in order to
pass through the Needles channel with
favourable tide and before reaching the
fairway buoy set course on a WSW
direction. It seemed an appropriate time to
try sailing across Poole Bay but after some
time little progress had been made and
we were facing adverse tide by continuing
past St Albans Head. Being early
afternoon we decided to go into Swanage
Bay, pick up a buoy and take lunch.
The conditions were benign and the bay
was populated with wind-surfers skimming
across the glassy sea. One of them came
by and asked how long we intended to
stay as apparently he owned the buoy.
A rapid decision was reached to shortly
move off to visit Studland Bay but return
later to spend the night in these pleasant
surroundings and money changed hands
to reserve the buoy for the night. Our
night’s rest on the buoy was undisturbed
by any adverse conditions, deafness
afternoon toured Portland Harbour, picked
up a buoy and had lunch. We then
progressed into Weymouth and rafted up
for the night in the river. Whilst the shower
block in the Harbour Master’s Office has
been completely renovated a walk round
the town revealed that not a lot else had
been achieved on the back of the town’s
heavy involvement in the Olympics.
David Smithson
In the morning it was misty as we slipped
our mooring and became enveloped in fog
on leaving the river. Our view of the scenic
Dorset coast was non-existent but on
putting into Lulworth Cove the fog cleared
and the sun shone. We then headed
southwards to clear the Lulworth Firing
ranges and the fog thickened with visibility
at times down to 50 metres. Everyone had
their eyes peeled keeping watch with one
person below on the radar. Fortunately the
only vessel detected was the Range patrol
boat which kept its distance and one or
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